Woolies to test meat after 'sensationalised media report'

Jessica Grewal
Senior Reporter APN Newsdesk NSW Bureau
Working from Sydney, Jessica specialises in crime/court reporting, filing for APN’s regional mastheads in Northern NSW as well as providing national content for the group.
She was previously Chief Reporter at the Fraser Coast Chronicle in Hervey Bay, Queensland where she grew up and trained.
Early in her career, she was named Queensland Young Journalist of the Year at the Clarion Awards.
More recently, she was finalist at the 2013 Kennedy Awards for Excellence in NSW Journalism in both the...

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AUSTRALIAN supermarket giant Woolworths will test an imported product for traces of horse meat for "customer peace of mind" following what the company has described as "sensationalised media reports" on a frozen food scandal in the UK.

Frozen lasagnes and burger patties sold in UK supermarkets were found to contain horse meat when tests were carried out earlier this month.

The products were imported from Germany and Switzerland and have since been removed from UK shelves.

A Woolworths spokesperson said on Thursday the company sourced 100% of its fresh meat from Australian producers.

The spokesman said the Own Brand ready meals at the centre of the UK controversy were not imported to Australia.

One product, sourced from New Zealand, will be tested but the spokesperson said they had confidence in the supply chain and the process was simply for customer peace of mind.

"We have a robust traceability process in place and we have no reason to suspect there are any issues with Woolworths Own Brand products," the spokesperson said

"Any meat used in Woolworths Own Brand products is subject to strict certification, government verification and issuing of permits to allow importation from approved countries only."

Aldi chains in Europe were forced to recall lasagne but the company's Australian spokesperson told News Ltd the lasagne sold in its stores contained Australian beef only and was different to the product sold in the UK.

The Department of Agriculture has confirmed no permits have been issued to importers for goods implicated in the horse meat scandal.